Daily Archives: October 10, 2007

I don’t really have much to share for the past week or so. It seems like there are things I can tolerate eating one day and not the next…specifically turkey breast and hard boiled eggs. I’m trying just about everything in the store; fresh, canned, frozen, every preparation of protein you can think of. Now that I’m back in the office most of the time and HAVE to remember breakfast and lunch, I generally have some Dannon Light and Fit yogurt in the a.m., and then a small can of Vienna Sausages for lunch. I know, Vienna Sausages (aka baby food) are pretty lame, unappealing and unimaginative…..BUT it’s an easy thing to always have on hand, and they never upset my stomach because they are basically mush. Peanut butter is something else I keep available, and so are canned black eyed peas. During the week I keep it basic and boring, just so I don’t give myself an excuse to skip a meal if I don’t really feel like cooking. The weekends are a different story…..then I try to get a little more imaginative with my cooking. This weekend will be all about tofu.

Anyway, on to the real point of this post……like I said, I’m trying just about every type of protein that sounds halfway appealing, because for the first time in my life I’m a picky eater (more on THAT as I have time). I honestly have to be “in the mood” for something now, so I keep plenty of items in the freezer and cupboard. Over the weekend I opened up some canned chicken breast that I had gotten for free, and when I tasted it I was really shocked at how bad it was……..even though it was packed in some kind of chicken-y liquid, the texture and flavor was totally dry. I figured I could make chicken salad out of it and make it at least edible enough for one quick meal. Hindsight being 20/20, my huge mistake was adding real, full fat mayo to the salad. I didn’t think that small amount would make any difference, but about five minutes after eating a little of it I started sweat a little and get really flushed. Then the heaviness and nausea came in like an avalanche. I had a mild case of this a while back, but this time it was pretty bad. It was one of those awful feelings like you have when you wake up with a ferocious hangover…..there is no way to escape it, so you are just miserable until it is done with you. Even though it was still pretty early in the evening, I went to lay down and try to sleep it off. After lying in bed miserable for about ten or fifteen minutes, it started to subside. I am assuming this is what they refer to as “dumping syndrome” and that the high fat content of the chicken salad is what set it off. I don’t eat a lot of fatty meats, but even when I do I’ve never experienced that kind of sickness. I’m guessing that the soft, pure fat delivery system of mayo hits the digestive tract a lot quicker than the high fat proteins….and the “dumping” begins. I won’t be testing that theory with bacon or mortadella anytime soon. I would really like to avoid feeling that type of nausea again if at all possible. Seriously, think of the last time you got sick off of a lethal amount of super-sweet alcohol like Yukon Jack or Schnapps……that wave of misery is the closest thing I can think of for a comparison.

So there you go……tofu and bean sprouts this weekend. Of course I have to test the waters with something dangerous, and I think this time around it will be chile paste or something with a little heat to it.